Market Basket slashes workers' hours

Part-timers at the New Bedford Market Basket left work en masse Thursday, taking with them what could be their last paycheck and a slip of paper with a number for the state unemployment office.

SIMÓN RIOS

NEW BEDFORD — Part-timers at the New Bedford Market Basket left work en masse Thursday, taking with them what could be their last paycheck and a slip of paper with a number for the state unemployment office.

"It's like a funeral in here," said store director Bill Clark, who said that he had to lay off his part time staff, which represents about 90 percent of the store's employees.

"It's going to be very difficult to come back from this. I see Market Basket nonexistent in the very near future, unless Arthur T. Demoulas makes some sort of statement," Clark said.

The mood was dismal at the Coggeshall Street store, with workers notified in the morning that they wouldn't be getting any hours from Sunday onward. The actions were prompted by a protest by Market Basket employees and many customers over the Market Basket board's ouster of Demoulas as CEO, which have led to empty shelves and dried-up sales.

Some of the laid-off employees are college students who live with their parents, others are breadwinners with mouths to feed.

Market Basket said in a statement that store directors were not instructed to lay off associates, but to "adjust hours to meet current demand."

The company released an email sent by co-CEO Felicia Thornton to all store directors on Thursday: "As has always been our practice, your role as store director requires you to manage payroll as one of your many responsibilities. This means you need to schedule staff levels necessary to serve your current customer base and maintain store conditions."

Clark said he received the memo in the morning, and with sales down by about 93 percent at the store, it meant he had to lay off the part-timers. Of slightly more than 500 workers at the store, about 450 are part time, he said.

The full-time staff will continue working full-time schedules.

"(I'm) sick to my stomach," Clark said. "The worst day in my 22 years with the company. I feel so bad for the families. They're not just employees, they're family members."

Clark said that after receiving the memo he called a meeting with his management staff. It was then up to the managers to tell the workers.

He emphasized that the employees aren't necessarily gone for good.

"I let them know that they're laid off for now due to the CEOs' commands, but if ATD (Arthur T. Demoulas) comes back, and things get going, then obviously their job is here."

Above the punch clock at the New Bedford store was a sheet of paper notifying workers of the layoff. It cited the memo from Thornton, encouraging workers to contact her with a phone number and email address. Below the punch clock was an envelope containing slips of paper with a contact number for unemployment benefits.

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Holli Braga, an employee of four years at the Coggeshall Street store, said she's going to have to start looking for another job.

"It means my bills aren't getting paid and my credit's gonna go to —— at the age of 20," she said.

Patrick Power of Fairhaven, a business student at UMass Dartmouth, said he was planning on moving out of his parents house in the coming weeks, but that changed with Thursday's news. He said he got a call from his assistant manager notifying him of the layoff.

"I study business, so I'm learning now how not to run a business," Power said with a smile, standing in the desolate Market Basket parking lot.

"I've never seen a corporation revolt like this ever, based on my studies."

Although he's participated in the protests, Power said he didn't sign the petition to restore Arthur T. Demoulas as CEO.

"I care too much about this job," he said. "Listen man, the economy out here is so bad, and it's so tough to find a job that offers the pay and the hours. I'd kind of be a fool not to come back."

Although he wasn't laid off, William Fortier, a full-time employee at the New Bedford store, gathered with workers at the front of the store.

"It's getting tough," he said. "Some people are starting to lose faith. I'm hoping that (Arthur T. Demoulas), the good guy, has some words to tell us soon."